Jennies Postseason Run Continues in Sioux Falls for NCAA Super Regional

WARRENSBURG, Mo. - The Jennies postseason run continues as they head to Sioux Falls, S.D. for the NCAA Division II Super Regional. The No. 2 seed in the region, the Jennies will square off against top seeded Augustana S.D. in a best two-of-three series to determine the winner of the Central Region. Game one takes place Friday, May 15 at 3:30 p.m. CT with games two and three (if necessary) on Saturday, May 16 beginning at 1 p.m CT.

Quick Hits
Anderson vs. the Vikings
Head Coach Susan Anderson is 1-4 against Augustana in her time in Warrensburg. The Jennies lost a pair of close games to the Vikings earlier this season, 5-3 in extra innings and a wild 9-8 shootout that saw nine runs in the final two innings. 

About the Super Regional Series
By taking the No. 2 seed in the region, the Jennies guaranteed themselves of home-field advantage throughout the first two rounds. UCM played host to Missouri Western, Arkansas Tech and Henderson State last weekend. In the other half of the bracket, Augustana hosted Central Oklahoma, Winona State and East Central. By winning the double-elimination tournaments, No. 1 Augustana and the No. 2 Jennies play this weekend in a best two-of-three series to determine the winner of the region and who advances to the NCAA Division II Softball Championships. 

UCM in the Polls
The Jennies cracked the National Fast Pitch Coaches Poll for the first time two weeks ago. UCM's first ranking was at No. 23. After winning the MIAA Championship Tournament, the Jens were ranked No. 20.

Little Alex a Big Hit
Alex Leonhart delivered the biggest hit of the Central Region opening rounds when she broke a scoreless game in the sixth inning of the regional semifinals against Henderson State with her fourth home run of the season in what proved to be the game winning runs. Little Alex Leonhart, as she's so affectionately called by coaches and players, has a knack for coming up with big hits. Her home run in the sixth inning against Lindenwood clinched the MIAA regular season for the Jennies and she also has walk-off hits against Concordia- St. Paul and Sioux Falls. 

Stellar Sixth Innings
The Jennies scored 13 runs in their three games of the opening rounds of the Central Region Tournament. All but two of those runs were scored in the sixth inning. The sixth has been a pivotal inning for the Jennies this season as they're outscoring opponents 55-24 in the frame. They've also used that inning to spring numerous comebacks, as they are 11-9 this season when trailing after five innings and 3-1 when the game is tied after five, just as it was in the regional semifinals against Henderson State. 

Rose in a Groove
Junior Carlie Rose has been red-hot over the last 15 games, in which the Jennies have gone 14-1. She's collected 19 hits in 40 at bats for a .475 average and has drawn seven walks, bringing her on-base percentage to .553 in that time. She also has three home runs and 12 RBI while scoring eight runs and stealing four bases. One of those home runs was a grand slam to give the Jennies the lead in an elimination game against Pittsburg State at the MIAA Tournament.

200 Hits/40 Home Run Club
Senior Jakki Prater became the first Jennie to ever reach 40 career home runs when she slugged No. 40 at the MIAA Championship Tournament. Earlier this season, Prater became the fourth member of the 200 hit club and third in as many years. She became the all-time home run leader last season and was the first Jennie to ever reach 200 hits and 30 home runs. She is now the first with 200 hits and 40 home runs.  

Prater collected two hits during the opening rounds of the Central Region Tournament and stands at 218 for her career, second-most all-time. She is just four hits behind the all-time leader, Beth Savage, who finished her career with 222 hits in 1995.

Shockley's Winning Ways
After starting the season 4-5, Shockley has gone 21-1 in her last 22 decisions, giving her a 25-6 overall record. The 25 wins tie her with Kristen Grime for the most wins in a single-season in Jennies history. Grime's 25 win season came 24 years ago in 1991. During her 21-1 stretch, Shockely has a 1.35 ERA with 93 strikeouts in 145.2 innings pitched. She's allowed no more than four runs in any of those and has had 17 appearances with zero or one earned run. Pittsburg State is the one behind the one in 21 and 1, giving her her only loss of the stretch at the MIAA tournament. 

Mabe's Quest for .400
Sophomore Lauren Mabe is attempting to do what only six others have done in UCM history. Mabe leads the Jennies with a .414 batting average. If the season were to end today, her .414 average would be tied for the third-best single-season average in team history. Only six times has a Jennie batted at least .400, with the last coming from Courtney Opich in 2010. The single-season record for batting average is .457, set by Rachel Adams in 2007. 

Jennies Running Wild
The Jennies set a new single season record this season when they stole their 100th base of the season against Lindenwood. UCM broke the previous record of 97 set in 1995, and currently stand at 119 for the season. With 1.92 stolen bases per game, the Jennies are 15th in the nation. 

Junior Ali Jo Rogers leads the stolen base barrage. She has already set the new career stolen base record with 87 in her three years. She also continues to add to her single-season stolen base record. Rogers swiped four bags over the weekend giving her 46 for the season, making her the first Jennie to ever steal 40 bases in a season. She's stealing almost one base per game and is 17th in the nation at 0.75 steals per game. In addition to Rogers, Makayla Schoonover (26) and Carlie Rose (16) both have double-digit steals. Schoonover is a perfect 26-for-26 on attempts this season, which if it stands would be the second most steals without being caught in team history.

Jennies on the Road
This season the Jennies are 13-4 on the road. For her career, coach Anderson is 83-74 (.529) away from Warrensburg. 

Jennies in the Postseason
The Jennies clinched their eighth regular-season MIAA championships in their history and first since 2009 this season. Two weeks ago, they won their first conference tournament championship since 1997. 2009 was the last time UCM made the NCAA tournament and they have gone 18-21 in 39 NCAA games over 11 appearances. Their wins in the opening rounds of the NCAA Central Regional Tournament were their first NCAA wins since 1997.

Scouting the Opposition
Augustana
Series History: The Jennies and Vikings rivalry dates back to 1980. The Vikings hold a 12-5 advantage over the Jens. The two teams met twice during the season, with the Vikings squeaking out a pair of victories. Augustana has now taken four in a row from the Jennies and coach Susan Anderson is 1-4 all-time against the Vikings.

Scouting Report: Augustana won the other half of the Central Region bracket to advance to the Super Regional, defeating Central Oklahoma and East Central twice. They enter the Super Regional at 53-9 and 18-1 at Bowden Field. 

In the Daktronics All-Region Team that was released Monday, Augustana had the Player (Sarah Kennedy) and Pitcher (Jenelle Trautmann) of the Year. They also had two others named to the All-Central Region Team.

Trautmann is the ace of a pitching staff with a combined 1.93 ERA. She's started 34 of the Vikings 62 games and has a 32-3 record, third most wins in the nation. She also has a 1.80 ERA and 301 strikeouts (eighth in DII) in 214.1 innings pitched and is holding opposing hitters to an even .200 batting average. Trautmann is also a threat with the bat as she has a .414 batting average and .550 on base percentage with 20 home runs and team-leading 72 runs batted in. The Vikings have slugged 82 home runs this season while giving up just 21. Caitlin Nichol shares the NCAA DII lead with 23 round trippers. She also leads the team and is fifth in DII with 84 runs and 1.35 runs per game.

Sarah Kennedy leads the Vikings with 101 hits and a .486 batting average, fourth in the nation. She's hit 17 home runs and driven in 70 while also scoring 65 runs. As a team, the Vikings are hitting .339 and reaching base at a .416 clip.

Last Time Out
    WARRENSBURG, Mo. - Behind Katie Shockley's arm and Alex Leonhart's late inning heroics, Central Missouri (47-14) defeated Henderson State to move to the Super Regional round of the NCAA Championship next weekend.
    Shockley and Reddies starter Michelle Sorensen were engaged in a scoreless pitcher's dual that last five and a half innings.
    The Jennies finally got on board in the sixth when Jakki Prater led off with a single. Two batters later, Leonhart provided the power and launched a two-run home run over the left center field fence, her fourth of the season. Leonhart proved clutch throughout the season. She hit the game-winning home run against Lindenwood to clinch the MIAA regular season and ended two games with walk-off hits. 
    For Shockley, it was her team-leading 25th win in the circle, tying her with Kristen Grime (1991) for the single-season record. Shockley went the distance allowing no runs on just three hits and picked up her third shutout of the season. She started all three games for the Jennies during the opening rounds and threw all 21 innings, allowing four runs (three earned), on 10 hits with 10 strikeouts pitching to a 1.00 ERA.
    Leonhart was 2-for-3 on the day with the home run and two RBI. Prater was 1-for-3 with a run scored and Makayla Schoonover was 1-for-2 with her 26th stolen base, fourth most in a single season.
    The win puts the Jennies in the Super Regional where they'll face the region's No. 1 overall seed, Augustana (S.D.). Being the No. 1 seed Augustana will host the best two-out-of-three series in Sioux Falls, S.D. Game one takes place Friday, May 15 with game two and three (if necessary) Saturday, May 16.